MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Avian flu: Contingency protocols activated in Ecuador

Special teams have been placed under round-the-clock alert while a vaccination plan against the disease was extended

Ecuadorian authorities have actuated contingency protocols after a new outbreak of avian influenza was confirmed in a commercial farm in the Andean province of Cotopaxi, the Agency for Regulation and Control of Animal and Plant Health (Agrocalidad) announced Sunday in Quito.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock's agency said in a statement that the detection came after 100 days of not registering the presence of the disease in the South American country.

The “quarantine and containment of the detected farm” was ordered, in addition to the ”epidemiological surveillance of technicians in the focal and perifocal (surrounding) area to prevent the spread of the virus to other sites,“ Agrocalidad's communiqué went on.

Special teams have also been placed under round-the-clock alert in case of other notifications while a vaccination plan against the disease was extended in Cotopaxi and in the neighboring provinces of Tungurahua and Chimborazo. Farms owners who have vaccinated their birds with a single dose were urged to apply the second dose as a biosecurity measure, it was also reported.

”The commitment to control the disease is a joint effort between the poultry sector, the national government, and the public,” the statement also read.

On November 30, Ecuador declared a nationwide animal health emergency for 90 days, after the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus was detected in several farms, mostly in the Andean region. Under this measure, the movement of poultry, and by-products such as eggs, hens, and chickens from farms affected by the outbreak was prohibited. At least 1.2 million birds died or were culled because of the virus.

On Jan. 10, the first human case of avian influenza infection was confirmed in a nine-year-old girl in the central province of Bolivar.

(Source: Xinhua)